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Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley's Eccentric Manager
Revelations abound in this telling biography packed with new information that guarantees it will receive wide attention. Included is evidence that Elvis was not drafted into the Army, but rather entered through a Parker-engineered enlistment. Dickerson also shows that Elvis's well-publicized trip to Washington, DC to visit President Nixon was not a drug-induced display of mental deterioration, but rather a desperate plea for help. Parker (1909-1997) apparently had a plan to cut the late country great Hank Snow out of his management deal with Elvis and Parker also made sure that Elvis never toured Europe due to the Colonel's own status as an illegal immigrant.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 27, 2019
While this book focuses on deals it adds to our understanding of “Col” Tom Parker and Elvis Presley. It complements Alanna Nash’s 2003 The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley which told Parker's personal story.
James Dickerson describes Parker’s carnival beginnings where he started selling apples. He made contacts with country and western talent performing at county fairs. The first deals with Eddy Arnold presage the future. In making Arnold's career a success Parker won Arnold's confidence which he used to lead Arnold to believe he was a partner. Together they worked to sign Elvis ... solely for Parker ... which Arnold learned after the fact.
Parker needs cash to feed his gambling addiction.
The injustices Parker foisted on Elvis are legion. Perhaps the worst was Parker’s hand in Elvis’s being drafted. Afraid that his creditors would come for Elvis’ contract, he depreciated its value by having Elvis on ice for a while. Later, there is a mysterious 25% owner of this contract. The contract (or maybe just its administration) had Elvis footing expenses, with Parker raking off all kinds of perks… the biggest being a free office covering the 4th floor of a Vegas hotel. The book has the facts of Elvis’s charity concerts, particularly the Arizona Memorial showing a considerable benefit to Parker while Elvis pays the expenses.
Dickerson takes you through Parker’s moves, how he courted Vernon Presley, isolated Elvis from his original band, created fears and insecurities, forced Elvis to crank out quantity not quality and let the drug problem fester. There is an episode where a fed up Elvis attempts to enlist help from Nixon and Hoover.
Parker’s mafia connections loom. They are not “proven” but are more credible than the political connections that also loom. Parker surely had state level acquaintances, but the letters “from LBJ” read like the kind secretaries produce en masse as thank yous to supporters and volunteers.
Dickerson gives a few examples of Parker’s humanity, but they are weak compared to the amoral self dealing and blatant lack of concern for Elvis. The Nash book poses the view (not necessarily held by its author) that without Parker, there might not be an Elvis as we know him. The executives of top entertainment companies may have viewed him as a flash in the pan and cut him off as music changed in the 70’s.
Nash presents Parker’s childhood in the Netherlands where he may have come to the US to flee a murder charge. A green card or citizenship application would surely trigger a deportation. Both books show how this lack of US paperwork affected his Elvis’s career.
If you are interested in the business side of Elvis this is the book for you.
James Dickerson describes Parker’s carnival beginnings where he started selling apples. He made contacts with country and western talent performing at county fairs. The first deals with Eddy Arnold presage the future. In making Arnold's career a success Parker won Arnold's confidence which he used to lead Arnold to believe he was a partner. Together they worked to sign Elvis ... solely for Parker ... which Arnold learned after the fact.
Parker needs cash to feed his gambling addiction.
The injustices Parker foisted on Elvis are legion. Perhaps the worst was Parker’s hand in Elvis’s being drafted. Afraid that his creditors would come for Elvis’ contract, he depreciated its value by having Elvis on ice for a while. Later, there is a mysterious 25% owner of this contract. The contract (or maybe just its administration) had Elvis footing expenses, with Parker raking off all kinds of perks… the biggest being a free office covering the 4th floor of a Vegas hotel. The book has the facts of Elvis’s charity concerts, particularly the Arizona Memorial showing a considerable benefit to Parker while Elvis pays the expenses.
Dickerson takes you through Parker’s moves, how he courted Vernon Presley, isolated Elvis from his original band, created fears and insecurities, forced Elvis to crank out quantity not quality and let the drug problem fester. There is an episode where a fed up Elvis attempts to enlist help from Nixon and Hoover.
Parker’s mafia connections loom. They are not “proven” but are more credible than the political connections that also loom. Parker surely had state level acquaintances, but the letters “from LBJ” read like the kind secretaries produce en masse as thank yous to supporters and volunteers.
Dickerson gives a few examples of Parker’s humanity, but they are weak compared to the amoral self dealing and blatant lack of concern for Elvis. The Nash book poses the view (not necessarily held by its author) that without Parker, there might not be an Elvis as we know him. The executives of top entertainment companies may have viewed him as a flash in the pan and cut him off as music changed in the 70’s.
Nash presents Parker’s childhood in the Netherlands where he may have come to the US to flee a murder charge. A green card or citizenship application would surely trigger a deportation. Both books show how this lack of US paperwork affected his Elvis’s career.
If you are interested in the business side of Elvis this is the book for you.
May 9, 2009
This book was a very interesting read if your an Elvis fan and have ever wondered about Colonel Tom Parker. Parker is a major player in the career of Elvis almost from the start yet there has never been much written about him. I have been looking for a book on him and found this one that gives a good background on Parker along with how he ran Elvis's career during life and even for a while after death. If your into number this book covers the contracts signed between Elvis, Parker, RCA, and even Elvis's movie contracts and how Parker would get money on the side for himself.
June 15, 2025
Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building....and so did his career since 60's! I already read Being Elvis book and remember hating Col. Tom Parker with a fiery passion. This is the guy who forced the King to appear in godawful movies, rejected world tour plan, tormented him into playing Las Vegas shows although Elvis' health was awful at the time, and sold music rights back to RCA instead of receiving long-term royalty from the years to come! With his terrible management style, it fascinates me what makes Tom Parker became the Tom Parker we know (and hate).
.
"Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley's Eccentric Manager" reveals several interesting stories for us readers. I mean, we still have no idea about his childhood and birthplace since he notoriously hid this fact to everyone. However, even though you heard a lot of his scumbag tactics or shtick he pulled towards Mr. Presley and everyone (such as contracts that made him earn a lot more than Elvis or how he treated poor Scotty and Bill terribly), the book does a good job in terms of exploring these issues through the lens of business and financial, in an easy terms that non-college veteran readers can understand. And since it's the story of Tom, there's not much mentioned about Elvis' love life or tabloid shenanigans since Tom didn't involve much in it.
.
So why I give it only 4 stars? Well, there are parts where the writer spend too much time explaining the background of the city, place, or people involving in the story. It goes on too long sometimes and, in fact, when I see things like this in later parts, I quickly flip and there's not much I miss in terms of the main storyline at all.
.
But in the end, it's the book I recommend for fans of Elvis who also interest in marketing and business side of fame. This is a great compilation of how NOT to do business in showbiz!
.
"Colonel Tom Parker: The Curious Life of Elvis Presley's Eccentric Manager" reveals several interesting stories for us readers. I mean, we still have no idea about his childhood and birthplace since he notoriously hid this fact to everyone. However, even though you heard a lot of his scumbag tactics or shtick he pulled towards Mr. Presley and everyone (such as contracts that made him earn a lot more than Elvis or how he treated poor Scotty and Bill terribly), the book does a good job in terms of exploring these issues through the lens of business and financial, in an easy terms that non-college veteran readers can understand. And since it's the story of Tom, there's not much mentioned about Elvis' love life or tabloid shenanigans since Tom didn't involve much in it.
.
So why I give it only 4 stars? Well, there are parts where the writer spend too much time explaining the background of the city, place, or people involving in the story. It goes on too long sometimes and, in fact, when I see things like this in later parts, I quickly flip and there's not much I miss in terms of the main storyline at all.
.
But in the end, it's the book I recommend for fans of Elvis who also interest in marketing and business side of fame. This is a great compilation of how NOT to do business in showbiz!
August 5, 2022
Well researched and documented, but ultimately the recurrent themes wore me down. I had vague recollections of some of the secondary names in the book, which were neatly wrapped up in the end.
September 19, 2022
Empfehlenswert, gute Darstellung. Lehrreich unterhaltsam.
September 16, 2009
extraordinarily entertaining. corrects dozens of myths about elvis (for instance, he wasn't drafted into the army), and adds some superb facts to the legend (like elvis tried to arrange to tour with james brown, and had graceland painted to glow in the dark), but mostly reveals the colonel to be a monster of epic proportions. a hell of a read.
persuaded me that elvis more than any other individual ended the war in viet nam. i will provide my reasoning to interested parties.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews